The Inside
by E.I.Lorelai
Summary: Never judge a book by its cover, a lesson four ninjas learn in the passage of time. Naruto Uzamaki, Sakura Haruro, Sasuke Uchiha, and Rin Kimiko are shoved together into a team, told to function together. Having each their own issue, they find it hard to do anything together. As Rin goes on her journey of life, she learns that sometimes a friend or two are needed along the way.
1. Summary

The hidden village of Konoha started its life much ever other village. Each life created a ripple of livelihood like a leaf falling into a pond. Each ripple, every life and every day was special but today was far more special than other days, for the Academy was graduating their latest generation of genin. Excitement was everywhere, from the citizens to the blue of the sky, to the sound of the trees swaying in the wind. It could be found in the sapphire blue eyes of a boy with yellow hair and bright smiles, and in the sounds of children's laughter. Yes, today, four unlikely children would be fatefully united to form a team. Four children, four stories, four lives would be thrust together into a team.

One of the four was the yellow haired boy whose smiles and jokes hid his pain and his loneliness. He had always been alone and hated, but he never understood why. During the day his smiles fooled even himself into believing he was happy and carefree, but at night, when he was away from prying eyes, his tears forced the truth onto him like a hot iron down his throat: he was unwanted.

The second was a girl with a forehead too big for her face, with eyes of emerald gems and hair of cherry blossoms. Although she acted high and mighty, she wanted nothing more than the approval of others. Most importantly, she wanted to matter to others and be a burden no longer.

The third was a boy with raven colored hair, a heart of stone and fiery eyes. The boy longed for perfection and finding error in everything. The boy was a victim and a culprit. His ice cold heart yearning to be freed from its prison built on hatred. His pride was begging for revenge against an ever-looming shadow that he could never overcome. Onyx eyes cold like stone and blood eyes like the hate that ran in his veins. Eyes and heart that both longed to be freed from pride, hate, and all the bitterness that existed inside of him.

Finally, the fourth was a girl whose appearance could deceive all whom met her. Clothes that were too big for her and a face hidden from the world behind a scarf that only served as a memory. Her messy hair of silver and eyes of molten gold made her unique. Her cursed eyes were always looking down, protecting herself from the pain of others. Her hair was pulled back messily but in a way that would hide her face from the world. She stayed quiet and became invisible in crowds, but how she longed to be happy and able to see the world through her own eyes.

Four lives were going to be pushed into each other and they were going to fight against one another and against ever opponent thrown at them until they were freed from an unwanted, hateful, burden-filled perception of a team.

*** A/N***

**This is my first story here on FanFiction, so I would appreciate any support that is given, also any type of review is helpful, do you like it, hate it? Let me know, so I can make the story better. I love reading, and I love writing, so I know that sometimes some works are boring, but as the author, I might not see it, so by letting me know, your reading material will be improved! I try to answer all the questions and I will to try to update at least twice a week. It all depends how many reviews I've received and how motivated I feel!**

**If you know any good reads, let me know too, because I'm always looking for new reading material!**

**Your raven,**

**E. I. Lorelai**

***Updated* **

**Just changed a few things here and there, many thanks to my Beta nobleboivin and to everyone who has reviewed/favorited the story so far!**


	2. Prologue

There was a time when Rin Kimiko, was happy. She walked along the streets of Kirigakure with her older brother, hand in hand, content. They were orphans, so they never really had any food, but they had each others' company and that's really all that mattered to her. Her older brother was named Nazoko, and he was really nice to her. It was hard to believe that they were siblings at first because they simply held no immediate similarities. Nazoko had shaggy black hair with brilliant blue eyes while Rin had bright silver hair, radiant against the sun, and golden eyes. She didn't remember what happened to their mother, but Nazoko told her a very bad man took her away, which is why they were always hiding. Nazoko of course, knew that he couldn't tell his little sister that their mother was killed over her eyes, which were identical to Rin's golden ones. He heard stories when he was younger, that their mother was a great shinobi because of her eyes, but now as he was no longer a boy, but a man, he understood that her eyes were her demise. He couldn't let Rin know about their power, that way she would remain safe, so he placed her over a genjutsu his mother taught him that repressed the kekkei genkai. Now her eyes were ebony instead of gold.

One day, when Rin was 6, and Nazoko was 15, he woke her up roughly and told her that they had to run away. So, they packed up what little they owned, and ran into the forest. Many days and nights passed and Nazoko insisted that they keep going. When they finally saw a village not too far away, Nazoko smiled and said to Rin, "We'll be safe once we walk through those gates." Giddy with childish anticipation, she tugged on his hand and started running. That's when everything changed. She didn't see how it happened, but suddenly, Nazoko was in front of her and as she glanced down, she that his chest was pierced with an arrow. He was bleeding profoundly and so she cried and screamed in horror. No sooner had she screamed that she saw a man, that resembled a snake, with long black hair and a purple roped-obi, smirking and walking towards her. She was dead. She was sure of it, so she got closer to her brother and whimpered. Nazoko took a dying step and stood as a barrier between Rin and the strange man. The man, who only smiled more deviously at their feeble attempt, walked forward only to stop with a grunt. He heard a twig snap and jumped back. In front of them, now, were a man of silver hair, and a young man with long black hair.

Rin was scared, her brother was wounded and now there were men fighting in front of them. She whimpered and shut her eyes tightly, and then she got closer to get brother who was breathing heavily in front of her. Nazoko knew that he was going to die, but he couldn't leave his sister defenseless. "Rin? Please look at me..." he whispered raggedly. He felt horrible about doing this, truly, but there was no other way to make her understand. Nazoko had to activate her kekkei genkai, Kinshinsen. When she opened her black coal eyes, she couldn't help but flinch at the sounds of a battle unfolding around them. He then uttered something under his breath and looked her straight in the eyes. As the black receded and her golden eyes once again shone brightly she held her head in confusion. Her mind was invaded by thoughts that weren't her own and memories that couldn't be hers. This was the Kimiko Clan kekkei genkai, passed on mother to daughter, the ability to look someone in the eye and feel what they feel, think what they think, and remember what they did.

Nazoko could see that she was scared so tried to make her understand so he thought, _Rin, you're special. You always have been. I'm sorry I had to hide this from you, but I don't think I've got much time to explain why-_

"No... You're not going to die... Nazoko don't go, please…" she whispered tiredly.

Nazoko could see that all this mayhem was wearing her out so he cupped her cheek and thought, _You'll be safe here. I'll still protect you, you just won't be able to see me anymore. You can trust the people of this village. They'll help you..._

Rin's eyes started to droop involuntary, and she didn't have the strength to stay up, so she crumbled to the ground. Everything around her happened too quickly for her to understand, so she closed her eyes after saying, "Goodbye, 'Niisan..."

She became unaware of the world around her, but that was not the case for the world around her. Nazoko, grunted in pain and held his sister close, he knew that the men fighting against his aggressor were members of the village because of their hitai-ates; however, he also recognized the other man and knew that if these two shinobis did not injure him heavily or, less likely, kill him, Rin would be in a lot of trouble. Nazoko remembers seeing that man the day his mother had disappeared. He kissed the top of her forehead as he prepared to do something that would surely kill him. He closed his eyes and focused to create a genjutsu to turn his eyes the same shade of gold as Rin's. When he knew it was in place he stood up, grasping his chest in pain. "Leave her alone…" he murmured as loudly as he could manage, which granted, wasn't very loud. It worked though, all three shinobi turned their sights on him, and as he made eye contact with the man of the purple obi, he knew his plan would work. With newfound bravery, he limped closer and said, "Take me instead…"

The silver haired shinobi furrowed his eyes and lost his concentration for a second too long, because in that second, the snake man took his offer and speeded to grab him. The other shinobi took this as an advantage and swooped quickly to get Rin; somehow, Nazoko believed that he saw right through his genjutsu. Nazoko looked him and nodded in appreciation, before he felt a stabbing pain at his neck, from a bite that the snake man inflicted.

Rin's eyes opened on their own accord when she felt someone pick her up quickly. She saw the younger man, his hair tied back, and his eyes, which were red pinwheels, above her, so she figured she was being carried. She could hear his dilemma when he looked at her, so she looked away, wanting only to see her brother, because she could see that this shinobi, Itachi, she believed his name was, worried over her, and her only. So she looked around wildly, unfortunately, she did so only in time to see her brother's body being hauled away by the man in the purple rope, and as he sped away, she could see that Nazoko was still alive, so before losing consciousness again, she screamed at the top of her lungs, "Nazoko-Niisan!" She was hyperventilating, eyes wide, as she saw the other man with silver hair speed away, chasing them.

Then her world went dark, cold, and became ever so lonely.


	3. Six Years Later

_~ Six Years Later~_

Rin looked in the mirror hanging in her bathroom briefly before looking down and exiting the room. Ever since the incident that brought her to Konoha, she let her silver hair grow over the right side of her face, covering her right eye, and slightly above her other eye, just barely letting her see. The rest of her hair was divided into a ponytail sitting on top of her head and a portion left down. She reached down for the blue scarf that hung on top of a picture of Nazoko, as she wrapped it around her neck, she said, "Don't worry, Niisan, I'll make you proud. I'm going to take the next step to get you back. I'll graduate and get you back so I can return your scarf, I promise…"

Then she was off, she walked, eyes down of course, to the Academy. She never looked up when she walked in crowds, because there was always a chance that someone would catch her eyes and she would have to deal with emotions that weren't her own, and feel the pity that everyone had for her. That didn't mean she didn't hear it though, and the villagers weren't too quiet when they decided to rain pitying words whenever they pass her. Rin couldn't stand it, it was always the same, 'Poor girl, and an orphan, in a foreign village' or her favorite, 'That little orphan is a crazy freak, with those abilities and then the fact that she still thinks that brother of hers is alive… She's a danger to the village.'

The worst part was _knowing_ that they were right, not about her brother, but her kekkei genkai. Because of it, she was only herself when she didn't look at people. Since there was no one to help it control it, or at least no one she trusted, it had advanced to the point that a mere glance would keep her connected with that person for hours. In other words, it was torture. She had spoken with the Third Hokage about repressing the Kinshinsen, but he denied her request due to complications with her usage of it. Once the Kinshinsen was active for more than a week and is used unconsciously, repressing it could cause permanent blindness. As she arrived to the academy, she went straight for the last desk on the top row, one that no one sat on, because _she_ sat there. She was known to be extremely eerie, because she spoke less than Sasuke, and that in itself was a feat.

Class started as usual, with Iruka going on about uselessly about proper behavior expected of future shinobi and such pointless prattle. Eventually he asked them to do a Transformation Jutsu, and since he had obviously not seen that Naruto had once again ditched, Rin transformed into him before joining the rest of the class at the front of the classroom. One by one, the students transformed into Iruka, when Naruto's name was called, luckily second to last (her own being last), she stepped forward, and could see some of the students looking at her strangely, probably do to the fact that she was silent and Naruto was the definition of loud. Nevertheless, when Iruka nodded his head Rin closed her eyes, and concentrated as she made the hand signs. It was difficult to transform once you were already transformed, but she put most of her chakra reserve into it and transformed. Once the smoke cleared, she could see that everyone was shocked, including Iruka. She glanced down briefly, confirming that she indeed transformed successfully.

Her success though, was shortly outlived. No sooner had Iruka smiled and was about to congratulate 'Naruto' than another cloud of smoke emitted, and as it cleared she saw a different type of shock settle on the faces of everyone. She stumbled and Iruka grasped her by the arm and once he stabilized her he started stuttering, "But how…wait if that wasn't Naruto… then…NARUTO!"

Iruka dismissed everyone for lunch as he stomped out angrily, no doubt, to look for Naruto. Rin reprimanded herself harshly as everyone started to head out for lunch. She should have been able to last a couple more seconds before both jutsus collapsed, which meant that while she was able to a C-rank jutsu her stamina was still low. She closed her eyes and walked out of the classroom; at the very least she could enjoy lunch without having to hear Naruto's loud and rambunctious fights with everyone who so much as looked too long at him. It was completely impractical to have the only orphans of the Academy in the same complexes, especially since hers resided between Naruto's and Sasuke's. Well, not exactly, she lived in the complex under Sasuke's and the meant that she had the _honor_ of seeing exactly how incompetent Naruto really was and hearing Sasuke's monosyllabic replies. She imagined she lived in the one place every girl in the whole village wanted to live, under Uchiha Sasuke.

That is, every girl but her. Unlike most children their age, she not only knew of the Uchiha Massacre, but she also knew _who_ had done it. Itachi had been kind to her when she was recovering upon her arrival, and he was reliable because he could always tell me the truth, no matter how much it hurt her. This meant that often, Sasuke and Rin saw each other, whether it was because he was accompanying his brother to check up on her, or whenever all three of them trained together. Or more accurately, Itachi helped them train. Itachi was her mentor, even if he was a bit unwanted. She believed that he was intrusive and wanted to be left alone, but he was persistent and she was thankful for it because it gave her the courage to become stronger and save her brother. Of course, Itachi was honest with her and told her that he believed that Nazoko was dead, but that never stopped her from hoping. She and Sasuke were pretty close back then, but after the Massacre, they both shut the world out. Rin lost the only other person who honestly cared about her and so she decided to stop ignore the world.

As she walked into her complex she saw Sasuke waiting by her door, head down, hands in his pockets like usual, so she stopped. Without looking up, he threw something in her direction. Rin caught it and looked at it, it said, 'Meet me on the roof.' She blinked and looked up and, like expected, he was no longer there. She thought about it briefly, before walking into her apartment. She grabbed an apple bit it and then strapped her weapon pouch tighter to her leg as she grabbed another apple. Rin made her way to the roof slowly, once there, she looked around and saw him leaned up against the ledge eating his lunch. She walked within earshot distance and stopped. "What do you want?" she asked in a monotone voice.

As usual, her glance was casted towards the ground, but when several minutes passed without response, she looked up. He was staring back at her, _Impressive, what you did at the Academy, I mean._

She frowned and reprimanded her self as she looked away, she acknowledged his compliment by nodding, but even as she looked down, she remembered that she was still in his mind and could feel the anger towards himself for being behind her. Sasuke was not only angry, he was full of hatred towards Itachi, but the thing that surprised Rin the most was the familiar emptiness she felt within herself. It was seemingly impossible for her to believe that she and Sasuke could share anything at all, let alone these heavy feelings, or rather lack there of.

"Am I to believe that you called me up here for that?" she spoke in anger.

_No. I recalled that you have this ability of yours and wanted to test it out for myself, _he thought.

Without another word, she spun around and walked back in the building, but she knew that he was going to stay in her mind for a longer period of time, so she did her best to ignore all the emotions that overtook her and all his invading thoughts. She ate her spare apple quickly and made her way back to the Academy. It was tedious to have to wait for everyone to return, but it couldn't be helped. As students filled in with their groups of friends, there was the usual chatter that filled the room. Iruka returned soon after with Naruto in tow. As punishment, they were made to once more transform into Iruka. Soon after that they were called in one by one for the graduation test which was fairly simple, a clone jutsu, which seemed to relieve many students. One by one they were called and when her name was called she walked in unfazed, when the go ahead was given, she did the hand signs as quickly as she could manage and managed to produce five separate clones. She was given her congratulation and finally, her headband. She had been waiting for this moment since her first day at the Academy. Finally, a step closer to her brother!

She walked out and ignored the cheering of children and their parents and walked to the complex quietly. When she entered her, she saw the Hokage standing with his hands clasped behind his back. She sighed and looked down as she greeted him, "To what do I owe your visit, Hokage?"

"I come to tell you that you will be placed in a five member team, unlike the usual four member team, as a measure of improvement over you eyes and your teamwork abilities. I don't wish to place in a team where you will fail, I need you to become better and learn teamwork. This way you can gain control over your eyes…" he spoke in a firm voice.

"I understand." She hesitated and then took a deep breath to continue, "Can I ask you something?"

He turned around and nodded slowly not being used to her being hesitant. "Do you think, honestly, that I will be able to control it?"

He didn't answer at first, taking his time to think of a careful answer. This made her uncomfortable so she shifted her feet and waited as patiently as she could. Finally settling with a sensible answer, the Hokage responded, "I believe that your path will be long and hard, and sometimes, it may seem impossible, but your determination will decide if you can achieve control over your visual prowess." Content with his answer, she bowed her head in respect as he walked around her to leave the apartment.

The rest of the day passed by in a blur as she meditated and took a short cat nap. When she woke, the sun had gone down, so she cursed and ate some food so she could go to the forest. When she was feeling overwhelmed, she would go to the forest and train by herself. As she ate, silence overcame the apartment, this was strange. Naruto was usually laughing or complaining, or even yelling at Sasuke, but it was completely silent, almost like a grave. Rin shook of the thought, whatever happened to that boy was his own doing, and she cleaned quickly and made her way to the forest. But she wasn't ready for the surprise that shocked her to the core.

**A/N **

**Sorry I took so long to update! I'm currently working on chapter 2 and hopefully, it will be up in a week! Make sure to review and tell me if you like it. Tell how I'm doing so far, and I'll try to answer everyone back! Thanks for the support and keep an eye out for the next chapter next week!**

**Your raven,**

**~E. I. Lorelai**


	4. Prejudice

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of Naruto**

On her way to the forest, Rin had heard some commotion with the jounin of the village, but she didn't think much on it, after all the newest genin were in need of senseis for the next day. She should've paid closer attention as to what all the commotion was about though, because as she walked into the forest boundary she could hear the faint sounds of a battle occurring not to far from her position. Again, she ignored it, it wasn't rare for others to spar in the forest but she didn't once connect the disarray in the village to the battle, and that was her mistake.

As usual she started out with simple katas, but as she felt her body relax she snapped her eyes opened and grinned. This was the only time she could truly push her limits, there was no one to hide her eyes from, no worries, and so she began her training. She jumped into the air and grabbed a low branch and pulled herself up until she was standing on the branch, she grabbed two kunais then threw one into the air, as it left her hand she dropped to the ground and held the other kunai directly above her as she waited for the other to fall. As she saw it descend, she channeled chakra into the kunai and became stone still, and the second the two kunais met, tip to tip, she let the other go and swung her leg out. She had been practicing this for a while and hadn't gotten much of a result, but as her foot met the end of one of the kunais she could see her patience had paid off. Instantly, the two weapons were launched across a few trees until they embedded themselves into a tree a few meters away, one above the other. She smirked in triumph and went to retrieve them, but as she pulled the weapons from their temporary sheath, she felt a surge of chakra that was far too immense to be human. In her shock she slashed her palm, and she held it in partial shock and partial pain.

Quickly, she pulled some bandages and wrapped them around her hand tightly. Full of curiosity, she went forth to find the source of this power and as she neared the source she couldn't believe her ears or her eyes. That voice, that annoying, exasperating voice, it belonged to no other than Uzamaki Naruto. And that _had_ to be a mistake on her part. She neared the voice, or what seemed to be many voices, in a sly way, trying to go unnoticed. When she was close enough to identify what was going on, her breath came up short. Indeed, it was Naruto, but it seemed impossible. There were hundreds of clones, and she knew from the chakra signatures that these were not just illusion, but actual _clones_. But how was this possible? Surely there had to be a logical explanation for this. Earlier the same day, he couldn't create _one_! This made no sense… to go from a pathetic clone to hundreds in one _day_? She could feel her heart racing in her chest as she tried to process al the information that was drowning her senses. She could _feel_ the chakra that was being emitted by this boy, but it was different than any chakra she'd ever felt, almost too animalistic and too natural. Something was different about this boy, but that's not what bothered her.

From the time she first set foot in the Academy, she had promised herself never to underestimate anyone she was faced with or ever judge someone without knowing them, colleague, sensei or other wise; because she could see the way others looked at her and the way they judged her and she despised it. And now, a few years later, she was the one who was judging Naruto with absolutely no knowledge on his past, his feelings. She was in awe of his power, yes, but in her self-loathing, she ran away quickly and rushed to her apartment. Despite the fact that Rin had a better sense of respect towards Naruto now, she couldn't get over the fact that she was being such an insolent hypocrite. As she walked into the complex, she pushed passed a few girls who were, no doubt, waiting in vain to speak and congratulate Sasuke, and then shut the door behind her. Her breath was ragged and came up shot, and she knew that it wasn't from the run. This was physically taking a toll on her, as she raised her hand to wash it in the sink, she saw it shake. Rin clenched her hand and even though it pained her, it stopped shaking at much. She cleaned it thoroughly through teary eyes, not because of the pain caused in her hand, but the one in her heart and mind. After her hand was wrapped correctly, she walked into her bedroom and stumbled into her bed.

This couldn't be happening. She was getting over worked over something silly, right? It shouldn't bug her this much, not to the point of completely breaking down like she was now. She clenched her hands tightly, ignoring the pain, and changed into her sleeping gown she had to get over this. If Nazoko were here he would have said, 'Rin, you must learn to not let your emotions get the best of you. You have to remember that there are people in this world who wish to harm us, so chin up, okay?' He said it was okay to cry if the reason was warranted, but in a situation such as the one she was faced with was uncalled for such meaningless tears. Taking deep breaths, she resolved to forget all this nonsense. She had to be stronger than this if she was to rescue her brother. And despite the fact that she felt bad about being such a hypocrite, Rin climbed into bed and said as she did every night, "Good night Nazoko." She closed her eyes and let the obscurity of sleep overtake her.

Sasuke grunted in disregard as one by one he heard the girls clear the hallway leading to his apartment. It was unbelievable how persistent these girls were; day after day they would follow him from a 'distance' and giggle, laugh, and trot around like idiots. They were pretty easy to avoid, but when he couldn't it was hard to completely ignore the childlike whispers and giggles. It was distracting, but instead he saw it as practice, if he could concentrate while they were around, then surely his focus during battles would improve. As he started getting ready to go to bed he began to analyze Rin, as he used to when he was younger. She just made no sense. It had been proven time and time again that the chances of her brother being alive were close to nonexistent and yet she continued to believe that, against all odds, he was alive. Even then, Rin was strange on her own, only she would have this tremendous ability and want to suppress it instead of refining it. He shook his head in disapproval, when he had, more or less, recovered from the Massacre, he had hoped that perhaps he and Rin would remain friends and then set out together to kill Itachi; but that wasn't the case. Instead of becoming allies, they became distant and this was because he could see that she held no abhorrence, no hatred, towards Itachi. She was offended, yes, but not enough.

It was almost tragic, but he could care less. Her misery was her and he accepted that, just like she accepted his. The little occurrence earlier that day was the closest they had gotten to speaking since the Massacre, and he was disappointed in himself. He truly did want to test out her ability, but the true reason he wanted to talk to her was to tell her she needed help. Perhaps she not physically weak, but he often heard her whimper at nights when she was asleep and he knew, from experience, that they were nightmares. He still had them, and as much as he hated to admit it, he hoped that things would get better if he talked about it with someone. But he was too proud to ask for help from people who couldn't possibly understand his position, so by offering to 'help' her, he would be helping himself.

He yawned, a warning that he would soon fall asleep, and so he sat on his bed. Maybe he would draw the courage to ask her, although he didn't really believe it. Surely, he didn't need help; he was an Uchiha after all.

Even as she slept, Rin's subconscious couldn't shake the memories that the day's events were bringing up. She was seven all over again, and it was the first day of the Academy, by then the Hokage had already spoken to her about her choices and she had decided, with the help of Itachi, to enroll into the Academy. It was supposed to be a really exciting experience but Itachi had become more isolated than usual and she was walking into this situation blind. She supposed that she could rely on Sasuke once she arrived, but she wasn't exactly sure about that. The Hokage had warned her that it would be hard for her to get accustomed to all the staring and people whispering about her, since she was, after all, feared for her ability and her seclusion from society. Many people tended to avoid her when she was out, and the rest just looked at her with pity. She was currently getting ready to go, and that's when she looked at her brother's scarf. It was perched on its hanger like usual, but she had never taken it out of the apartment. It was the only thing that silver-haired ninja, Kakashi, was able to recover when he chased them down. Her heart beat with trepidation at the thought of going to the Academy, she knew that Sasuke was going to be accompanied by his parents and Itachi, but unlike everyone else, she was going to go alone. She had no one; even if the Hokage and Itachi always tried their best to help her out, moments like this reminded her how alone she truly was. That's when she remembered what Nazoko told her, 'I'll still protect you, you just won't be able to see me anymore.'

Her expression hardened and she looked at her brother's scarf with newfound determination. She grabbed it and wrapped it around her neck, it was a bit longer, as was to be expected and it almost dragged, but she adjusted it to fit her height. Now she was ready, because her brother was with her, at least in spirit, and she would start her training so she could get Nazoko back and they'd be together again. Rin grinned and made her way to the Academy, but it disappeared as soon as she reached the front doors. There were a lot of people here, from parents to students and it made her drop her gaze down. When she had regained consciousness after getting to Konoha, she was overwhelmed with all the thoughts of the nurses, and doctors; it was a complete nightmare. The Hokage had helped her understand what her kekkei genkai did and how it worked, but it was too late to suppress it. No one else had anymore knowledge on it, and even though Kakashi said he could help her, she turned him away. She was upset with him because he had failed to return her brother. Despite that childish resentment, she had various rendezvous with him by 'coincidence' or so he said, and Rin had grown attached to him and thought of him as an uncle or something close in relevance.

She still didn't accept his offer, regardless of her thoughts of him, mainly because she was afraid to try to advance her prowess, which was needed to control it. She was in such turmoil as it was, and she hadn't scratched the surface of what she could do. Rin took a deep breath and waited for her name to be called, as the masses of students were separated into classrooms. When she heard her name called out into the same classroom as Sasuke, hope blossomed in her, hoping they would talk. Everyone sat down in the classroom as a man introduced himself as Iruka-sensei. He seemed very amiable, but seemed to be strict concerning the rules around here. He asked for a volunteer to introduce themselves. A hand shot up into the air and a boy with bright yellow hair stood on the desk with enthusiasm, without waiting for a response from Iruka, he ran to the front of the room and shouted in a clear voice, "I'm Uzamaki Naruto! And I'm going to be better than all of you so don't be disappointed when I beat all of you, believe it!" Iruka then reprimanded him on respect and humility for a while before he started calling everyone by rows to introduce themselves.

Everyone said their names and eventually he reached her, and instead of standing up and going to the front like everyone else, she stayed in her seat in the back and said, "I'm Kimiko Rin." And that was it. As rude as it was to do that, it was the safest thing to do; she couldn't risk catching someone's eye as she made her way to the front. Iruka looked at her and asked her to please get up and introduce herself properly. She only shook her head and kept her head down, so Iruka asked to see her during the lunch break. At this, many of the kids snickered and made snide remarks. The rest of the day she was stared at with contempt and she was avoided by all the kids, even Sasuke, who chose to train instead of paying her any attention. She waited in her seat when everyone ran out of the room to eat, and Iruka walked up to her, "Listen, I talked to the Hokage, so I understand your situation, but you should participate more, or else you'll fall behind, alright?" She merely nodded her head and headed out. They both knew she wouldn't really participate as much as anyone, unless it was really necessary for her to. Rin was a fast learner and she wasn't going to ignore the lessons, just learn from a different perspective, besides she was better as a hands-on learner.

As she walked outside all conversations stopped, most of the other children were glaring at her, she could feel it, it was a horrible sensation and as she walked by a table a kid tripped her and said, "My mom said I should stay away from you, you're a freak! And you were rude to Iruka-sensei; you shouldn't be allowed to train at all…" She ignored the comment but a lot of kids sniggered at it. She felt horrible and ran away to her apartment were she crumbled in anger. Why was it that people could be so cruel? The worse part was that they were just children. They didn't know the damage their words inflicted, how much it hurt. She promised herself to never make someone feel like that, ever. She stood up with a fierce look in her eyes, '_No one will hurt me like that ever again!_"

When Rin woke up the next morning, she gave little thought to the dream she had, but she was glad it wasn't a nightmare like usual. They were horrifying and they had gotten worse, but she refused to tell anyone about it, she could handle it. Now, though, she wore Nazoko's scarf with even more pride, knowing that it fit her better than before, a sign that she was growing up. It was usually a big deal to wear the hitai-ate after receiving it, but she grabbed it and tied it around her hip. Rin made her way to the Academy after a quick breakfast, which was mostly full by the time she arrived. Everyone stared when Naruto walked in, and someone went as far as to tell him that today was only for genin, which is when he flashed his headband with pride.

She tried to ignore everyone until Iruka put them into groups, so she kept her head down. When Iruka walked in she noticed that something had happened between Sasuke and Naruto because they were glaring at each other while all of the girls, except Hinata and me, were staring daggers at Naruto. Slowly kids were called into teams as Iruka explained that we were in teams that would balance out the abilities. I perked up when I heard that Team 7 would have an extra member, knowing this was my team I listened for the names. Naruto was called first, and while it might have been coincidence, Rin sensed that the Hokage knew that she saw what had happened and placed him on her team on purpose. Then Haruno Sakura was called out and she grimaced, I wasn't too thrilled to be on her team. She was okay and got good enough grades, but she was completely daft and part of the Sasuke Fangirl Club, which was enough to make her distasteful. When Sasuke's name was called, Naruto was dismayed, Sakura was thrilled, and I was in shock. Now she was sure that the Hokage was involved in this, and he would get an earful when she got the chance. Naruto then went on complaining that he was better than Sasuke, when the latter insulted him; Iruka stopped him and told him that Sasuke got the highest while Naruto got the lowest.

This much was true, but she made an internal comment that she didn't get the greatest grades either. She lacked in participation, but she made up in performance, which landed her with a fair enough final grade. The rest of the day was uneventful for her, but she heard the other trio in the team had gotten into some misunderstanding. Rin only hoped that this wouldn't delay her. The next day was when they would meet their senseis and came to pick them up and head out. Little by little, the room was emptied and the only ones left were them, Team 7. Sakura was staring at Sasuke for a while before she turned her attention to Rin, "Hey, you're always really quiet. Maybe we can be friends and then you wouldn't have to be so quiet! We could hang out and talk about things we like. Hey don't you live in the same complex as Sasuke-kun? You're so lucky; I bet you get a bunch of chances to talk to him! Hey, Rin, are you listening to me?"

Rin took a deep breath and then proceeded to stand up and walk to the other end of the room and said, "I don't want to be friends with anyone. Don't take it personally, but you talk a lot."

She looked pretty annoyed but she waved it off and continued to look at Sasuke and making a comment about how late their sensei was. Naruto, meanwhile, was being the usual clown, and

Naruto started to get impatient and proceeded to place the eraser between the door and the wall. Sakura warned him not to and Sasuke said, "Our sensei is a jounin, so wouldn't fall for something as dumb as that." Not surprising at all, Sakura agreed with him, and that's when their sensei opened the door. Naruto burst out in laughter when the eraser fell unto silver hair. Sakura apologized and denied having anything to do with it, while Sasuke stared at him. I sighed; of course Kakashi would be in charge of Team 7. "My first impression of you: you are a bunch of idiots." Everyone looked shocked, but in reality, Rin was expecting some kind of remark like that from Kakashi, it was in his nature to do something like that.

They were ushered outside and then to the roof of the Academy. She decided to stay in the room until they were all outside and then she made her way to the rooftop through a different route: the trees. She hid in the high branches of a tree near the roof as Kakashi explained how he wanted us to introduce ourselves. He gave a vague example before he motioned Naruto to start. "I'm Uzamaki Naruto, believe it! I like instant ramen in a cup and I _really_ like the ramen that Iruka-sensei got me at the Ichiraku noodle shop, but I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water in the ramen cup. My hobby is eating different types of ramen and comparing them. And my future dream is to be the greatest Hokage! Then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and me like I'm somebody. Somebody important!"

Usually, Rin would have just ignored it, but after what she witnessed, she knew that he'd earn respect sooner or later. Sakura spent her introduction staring at Sasuke, and it wasn't hard to guess what she was thinking of, and then turned to insult Naruto, so Kakashi said, "Okay, last one." Sasuke never moved, but he spoke in a clear voice, "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan and kill a certain someone."

"Good, you're all unique and hold your own ideas-" Kakashi started but was interrupted

Naruto sprung up and said, "Hey, wait, what about the other girl? Rin-chan? Where is she anyways?!"

Kakashi turned to look towards my tree, and said, "She's been here all along hasn't she? Why don't you come down and introduce yourself, Rin?"

She jumped down and glared at Kakashi, she knew he wouldn't look her in the eyes. "But, why? You already know me?"

Sasuke tried not to care, but it was impressive that she was giving Kakashi an attitude. Naruto and Sakura were both in shock that she was being so rude and she claimed to know him. "Well, then, why don't you humor me, and introduce yourself to _them_. I'm sure they know as little as your name." Kakashi replied. She took a breath and walked towards them. If she had to work with them, they had to know a little about her. Perhaps this wouldn't be as bad as she thought.

**A/N:**

**Hope you guys enjoy the latest chapter of The Inside! Unfortunately I will be out of town this next week, but I'll try to post the new chapter next weekend. Also there is a poll on my profile concerning the Update days, so go forth and cast your votes! Also, follow me on instagram to get to meet Rin Kimiko! **

**Your Raven,**

**E. I. Lorelai**


	5. Understanding

**A/N **

**I was able to get my hands on my laptop so you guys will get your chapter just a few days late! Sorry about that, but I hope you like it. Want to thank everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and is currently following my story, it means a lot to me, so thanks!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

* * *

"I'm Rin Kimiko, the youngest survivor of the Kimiko Clan of the Mist." At this Sakura and Naruto looked surprised, while Sasuke merely ignored it, "I dislike having to do this, but more than that, I hate eye contact, and I hate people. So don't take any offence if I say something that offends you. There isn't else I will tell you that is relevant to you knowledge, but I will say this, my only goal for becoming a shinobi is finding my brother and getting rid of the scum who took him from me."

Naruto clenched his fists and stood up, "Hey, you're being super weird, like weirder than Sasuke!"

Because of his comment, Sakura started yelling at Naruto about being respectful, or something of the sort. Rin turned around and faced Kakashi, and looked up and kept her sight fixed on the eye that was covered, giving the impression that they were looking at each other, "I'm disappointed in you, Rin. I expected that you would be less rude, but don't worry you'll have a chance to redeem yourself. " Her expression hardened as she was taken back to the time that she told Itachi that she wanted to become a shinobi to kill the man that kidnapped Nazoko. That's what he had said to her, that he was disappointed in her for having such an appalling reason for becoming a shinobi of Konoha. It had hurt her in ways she didn't believe that Itachi, or even she, could understand. Those words rung in her ears but when she heard Kakashi continue she broke from her self-pitying trance. "We'll start our first mission tomorrow"

"Yeah! A mission! What kind of mission Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked with enthusiasm.

"It's a task that the five of us will do together. A survival exercise, if you will." His expression, like always, didn't change much.

"I thought we were supposed to have a _real_ mission not more practice! We already did this stuff at the Academy, that's how we got here!" Sakura whined in an obnoxious voice.

"This is not like your previous training…"

"So…uh… what kind of training is it?" Naruto asked confused, but excited nonetheless.

Kakashi started chuckling in a manner that might seem humorous at first but as he continued it formed into darker laugh. "Hey, that's a fairly normal question, so what's so funny?" Sakura said, blush painting her cheeks as she looked for Sasuke's approval. Rin suppressed the need to roll her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her waiting for Kakashi's response, which she was sure would be something to scare them, given the laugh. "Well, if I tell you the answer, you're not going to like it…" Everyone seemed either confused, in the case of Naruto and Sakura or more interested in the answer, in the case of Sasuke and Rin. "Of the twenty-seven of you graduates who came here, only nine will actually be accepted as genin; the other eighteen will be weeded out and sent back to the Academy. In other words, this is a make it or break it; pass/fail test and the chance that you'll fail are at least sixty-six percent." He looked quite pleased with his way of phrasing things which only put everyone else on the edge. Rin and Sasuke looked livid, Naruto looked petrified, and Sakura looked lost, "See? Didn't I tell you, you wouldn't like it?"

"That's crazy! We worked hard to get here, believe it! What was that graduation test for then?" Naruto fumed out quickly.

"Oh that? That was to select the students you _might_ become genin or not. That's how it is: I decide if you pass or fail. Meet me at the designated training arena at five in the morning, and bring your ninja gear," He answered quickly with a small smile. Rin knew very well that he wasn't joking about this and that put her nerves and agitation up. This changed everything really. If she failed this survival test and was sent back to the Academy, she'd be behind and her goal would be further away, and that was _not_ acceptable. No matter what the price, she _had_ to pass this test.

Naruto was going through a similar monologue in his head, because he knew that if he was weeded out, people would disrespect him even more, and that was not something that he wanted. Sakura was just looking at this from the point of view that if she was left behind, Sasuke would be forever out of her reach, and _she_ was going to be with _him_ even if she had to go through this test to prove it. Sasuke just gripped his hands tighter and stared ahead with anger and hatred rolling off him in waves.

"That's it. You're dismissed. Oh, and skip breakfast, tomorrow or you'll puke." He turned back around and bounded off. Naruto jumped in the air and started yelling about never giving up and becoming the next Hokage, when Sasuke stood up, with Sakura as his shadow, and sulked off. Rin gave her temporary team a glance before she made her way to the Hokage's tower. She was not going to stay on this team any longer, Kakashi would just bring her more emotional pain, and the rest of her teammates were not in her best interest. Although Naruto seemed to have a lot of power and chakra reserve, he had regained his title of idiot because his attitude and mannerism were childish and not deserving of being called anything else; nevertheless, she respected the fact that he was powerful.

Without another look at them, she jumped down to the ground and walked into the Hokage tower, and, as expected, ANBU guards stopped her as soon as she ran into the Hokage's office, but she paid no heed to them because when the Hokage looked up he waved his hand and muttered, with his pipe in his mouth, "Let her go, she means no harm."

"But sir-" One of the men argued, but halted when the Hokage stood and waved them away once again. They all bowed respectfully before disappearing into the air. "Child, you must learn to be more careful when you burst into rooms with such ferocity, especially because I am constantly wanted dead! Have I not told you to knock or at the very least be polite so you won't be seen as a threat? Oh, never mind, my words fall on deaf ears, don't they?" As he set down his pipe, he motioned for me to come closer, "Now tell me, what troubles your mind that could not wait another second."

Without wavering, she stared at the ground and said, "Remove me from this pathetic team at once, and forgive me if I don't ask nicely, but you put me on that team for a wretched reason. You know that I have history with both the Uchiha and Kakashi, and it will only hold me back. I cannot afford to do that, Nazoko is still waiting for me and I can't be held back by them!" It was rare when Rin raised her voice above a stern tone, let alone yelling, and at the Hokage no less. She was prepared to continue ranting and listing off the reasons why she should be removed from the team when he held up his hand. She shut her mouth but clenched her fists tightly at her sides.

"Yes, I did put you on that team with each particular member for a reason. I know it must be hard for you to deal with the past, especially with Sasuke, but you _must_ move on. I was skeptical about who your sensei would be, not just for you, but for the rest of your team as well, but when Kakashi offered to take all four of you, I agreed. He is the only one who will be able to help you with your kekkei genkai, but he also holds his best interest in you and your teammates. If you need a reason as to why I placed you, and the others, together, I will do so, but only after you _try_ to get along with them and truly participate and integrate yourself into this team. If after trying, you still want to be removed from Team 7, there will be arrangements made, do you understand?"

They both knew she did, so she took a deep breath and looked to her left, "Lord Hokage, I understand, and appreciate, your concern for me but I desire to be removed this instant. I do not want to form bonds with them, or rekindle old ones. Today, Kakashi reminded me why it is that I stopped speaking to him, he's far too much like Itachi in his lectures, and that man betrayed me, and I won't give Kakashi the opportunity to do so."

"You're scared, and don't try to deny it, we both know that Kakashi would never betray you, and Itachi betrayed his village not _you_. You're just scared that you're not strong enough to do this, am I correct?" His tone was even and his eyes were serious as ever.

"I'm not afraid! I am not weak either… but… I don't think that I can be in this group. Each member of it presents a problem to me, and each other. Sakura can't think for herself, because she's only thinking about what could impress the Uchiha. The latter of the two doesn't care about anyone in the team at all and has unpleasant history with me. As for Naruto… well needless to say, he's an idiot, and even though I know he holds immense power, his idiocy is hard to tolerate. I ask you, Hokage to take me out of this team."

"Hmm… I will not, as you do not hold any power over me. Hear me out, if you try, truly _try_, I will remove you if you still wish it. I ask this of as your Hokage, but also as someone who cares for you. Now make peace with it child, and know that I only do this in your team's best interest."

Rin knew this was his way of dismissing her, so she bowed slightly and walked out through the window. She jumped tree to tree until she reached the complex. She walked in hoping that Sasuke was already upstairs and he wouldn't give her any grief. Before she opened her door, she heard footsteps behind her, "You're so lucky Rin-san… I wish I were you, well see you tomorrow morning!" Luckily, for her, Sakura's steps receded before she could turn around so she walked in and started her nightly ritual so she could go to bed. She was exhausted, and even though it was still fairly light outside, she needed rest for tomorrow. She looked out the window as she pulled the ribbon from her hair letting it fall.

She could hear Naruto sparring with his pillows, and the neighbors yelling at him to be quiet, and it brought a small smile to her face. That boy wouldn't change no matter how much power was given to him, and as honest and respectable as that was she knew that if she could control her power, she wouldn't be as noble as Naruto. She would save her brother and make sure that the mane who took him from her could never hurt them again. This was her goal, after all, but it was nice to be reminded that selfless people still existed nonetheless.

Just as she was going to lie to down in bed, something clattered in the kitchen, and she was on edge once more. She grabbed her kunai bag and walked into the kitchen with quick and soft footsteps. "I've got to admit, you've gotten better at sneaking around. You're light on your feet, and hardly make a sound, but you're still detectable…"A voice came from the counter.

"Kakashi. Well, a lot has happened since we last had a decent conversation, don't you think? Now get out, I'm not in the mood for a lecture, and as you can see, I was getting ready for bed." Rin replied in a sour tone. She wasn't in the mood to deal him at all; she knew that he would reprimand her in the form of a riddle and then try to have a conversation with her.

He cocked his head to the side as she turned around and headed to her room once more. It seemed that she really was being serious about not being in the mood so he called out to her, "Fine, but you better be at the training grounds tomorrow at the designated time, and remember: no breakfast."

She ignored him and sat down on her bed knowing that he would leave, if he hadn't already left. The window was open, as it was on rare occasions, and a soft wind threatened to knock over Nazoko's scarf, so she once again stood up and closed the window. She sighed and pulled the shutters down to create a more slumber-like atmosphere and gave a last glance at Nazoko's scarf before lying back down on her bed and closing her eyes, hoping that tomorrow would be an easy day, and knowing that it wouldn't.

* * *

It was four in the morning and even the sun had yet to awake, but Rin was in her bathroom getting ready for the day. She took a shower, and dressed in her usual manner: a simple black shirt that hung off her hips, Nazoko's teal scarf, grey pants, and shoes. Today though, she had a new addition to add: her hitai-ate. It was on her bathroom counter when she had woken up, so she had to assume that Kakashi had left it there. Even though she hated to admit it, he did know what kind of things she liked because it had been modified into a pair of fingerless gloves with Konoha's insignia on a metallic plaque. It was a nice though, she had to admit, but this did not mean that she was okay with being on the team for a longer period of time. She knew that Kakashi had spoken to the Hokage and the true reason for his visit was to emphasize what the Hokage had already told her.

She slipped them on and advanced to her hair. She brushed it enough so it covered the right side of her face then separated the rest of her hair in two sections. The top half was tied into a pony tail on the top of her hair and the rest was left down. The clock on the wall had barely moved, showing a quarter past four. With an annoyed sigh, she took out her ninja gear and examined it thoroughly. She preferred kunais to shiruken, but she knew better than to disregard the effectiveness of having both packed. She made sure that they were all packed and that they were all sharp. She figured that she had time to kill, so she cleaned the ones that needed it and organized them once more. It was finally late enough where she could go to the field and still get there earlier than planned. She knew from the noises in Naruto's room that he woke up late and was now in a hurry. She shook her head and made her way to the training field without another thought.

When she arrived she made sure to look around for hiding spots and vantage points since Kakashi had mentioned this was going to be some sort of survival test. Satisfied with her findings she rested on the branches of a tree nearest to the clearing. Just as she was beginning to get comfortable she saw her regrettable teammates walking into the clearing, well, not exactly walked. Sakura and Naruto were both mumbling tired good mornings and were almost asleep on their feet, but of course, Uchiha was uncouth and perfectly awake and ignored them both. He stood with his back to both of them and crossed his arm while Sakura tried to play off her obvious exhaustion. After the sun started to peak over the tree tops Sakura looked around and asked, "Have you guys seen Rin-san?"

Naturally, Sasuke ignored her and Naruto was half asleep so even _he_ didn't answer her. Deciding she had played hide-and-seek for long enough, she dropped to the base of the tree and reclined against it. Sakura waved and then returned gazing at Sasuke. As time dragged on and the sun rose higher, Naruto sat down and starting dozing off and Rin thought to herself, 'Looks like some things never change, huh Kakashi?' That man has never been known for his promptness, although she was sure he would have at least tried to be on time for once in his life. When the sun was high in the sky, Sakura had finally given up and she had accompanied Naruto on the floor, and Sasuke was still standing and, like an ice sculpture, he hadn't moved from his spot.

"Morning everyone, ready for your first day?" A cheery voice broke the spell of silence.

Naruto and Sakura pointed at him with enraged looks and said in unison, "Hey, you're late!" Meanwhile, Rin walked nearer to her teams and Sasuke just stared at Kakashi.

"Well, a black cat crossed my path and I had to take the long way" Kakashi said sheepishly. Naruto growled in frustration as Kakashi cleared his throat and said, "Well then, let's get started, shall we?"

Everyone stared at him as he neared a stump that had a timer on top of it, "It's set for noon," he grabbed a pair of bells from his waist and continued as he held them up for us to see, "Your assignment is very simple, you just have to take these bells from me; that's all there is to it. If you can't get them by noon, then you'll go without lunch." At this Naruto made a startled noise and Rin knew that Kakashi had made them skip breakfast for a reason, "You'll be tied to those posts and you'll watch as I eat _my_ lunch in front of you." The Sakura and Naruto looked to be the most distressed by these news, although Sasuke seemed to have figured it out too.

"Hey, wait a minute! There are four of us, how come there are only two bells? Are we going to split up into teams?" She asked with hope laced in her voice.

"Of course not, that would make it unfair. This way then at least two of you will end up tied to a post and then disqualified for failing to complete the mission assigned to you. Those two are the ones who will return to the Academy, then again, all four of you can flunk out too if you use any weapons, including shiruken, and are not prepared to kill me. You see, you won't be able to take the bells otherwise."

Sasuke glared daggers at Kakashi; there was no way he was going to go back. Itachi had to pay for all he did. He was going to get one of those bells, no matter what; he wasn't going to let that fangirling idiot or dead-last to take away _his_ chance for revenge, but Rin might prove to be more challenging. It didn't matter to him who was sent back because that would prove that they were incompetent, but what _did_ matter to him was that _he_ passed the test. Naruto knew that he wasn't the smartest, but he sure wasn't going to be sent back! He would make everyone respect him, once he was Hokage they would be sure to do that, but that could only happen if he advanced, he couldn't be sent back again! Sakura's turmoil was similar and though she was worried about going back, it was mostly due to the fact that she wanted to stay on the team with Sasuke-kun, his opinion of her was important, but Rin-san was very good too, and that worried Sakura even if she would never admit it.

"Those weapons are too dangerous sensei!" Sakura protested.

Naruto laughed it off, "Especially since you couldn't even dodge that eraser!"

"Class clowns are usually the weakest links, you can safely ignore the lowest scores losers." That shut Naruto up, "When I say start, you can begin…"

He was about to open his mouth when Naruto did something unexpected, he pulled out a kunai and lunged at Kakashi. Everyone stared at Naruto in surprise, but more in shock as Kakashi had caught his wrist and put the kunai to the back of Naruto's head in less than a second. His speed was unbelievable; none of the team saw him actually_ move_. "Now, now, don't be in such a hurry, I didn't say start yet." Naruto was struggling against him and Rin, Sakura, and Sasuke all took a few steps back, not wanting to get caught in the middle of that. Rin took a few more steps as a precaution, because she was _not_ going to be one of the two who were going to be sent back. She had trained too hard to be sent back; but she also knew that Kakashi was hiding something. He wasn't telling them something, and she knew that she wouldn't figure it out unless he wanted them to know. 'Kakashi…" she thought, 'what are you hiding?'

Kakashi continued in a playful note as if nothing had happened, "But, you came at me with the full intention to destroying me, so, how can I say this, I'm starting to like you guys. Get ready, and… start!"

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**A/N**

**Alright that's it for this week! I've been asking around and it looks like people prefer the weekends for an update, but my poll is still open, so go vote on the day you like the most! I'll have the next chapter up by Friday and I'm closing the poll on Thursday, so hurry and get your vote in. **

**As always, please leave me a review and let me know how I'm doing!**

**~ Your Raven**

**E. I. Lorelai**

******* UPDATE ********

**Sorry guys but I'm out of commission for a while! I've been hospitalized and they're not letting me near laptops or anything so I'm really sorry! The Doc said I'm probably going to be discharged in about a week in half, so expect a chapter by then! Again, I'm sorry, but this might give me time to write more so yay! (?) **

**~ Your (sick) Raven**

**E. I. Lorelai**


	6. Teamwork

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

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Upon hearing start, everyone bounded away from Kakashi as fast as they could. Rin took shelter in the tree tops where she had a better perspective of the clearing, while the rest stayed close to the ground and hid in the shrubs. All four genin turned to Kakashi when he said, "Ninja must know how to conceal their movements and hide effectively." He scratched the back of his neck and said to himself, "Well… they understand _that_ much; they've hidden well." No sooner had the words left his mouth than Naruto was standing in front of him arms cross with a smug smile on his face.

"You and me, right now, fair and square! Let's go!" Naruto shouted with over confidence. Sasuke scoffed at Naruto's idiotic boldness, knowing that it was the worst thing to do right off the bat.

"You know, compared to the others, you're a little bit… weird." Kakashi stated bluntly at Naruto's recklessness.

Naruto was taken back for a few seconds until he came up with, what he thought to be, a clever come back, "Oh yeah? The only weird thing here is your haircut!" Satisfied he launched himself towards Kakashi, hoping to catch him off guard. Kakashi didn't look fazed and reached into his weapon's pouch; immediately, Naruto stopped and tried to analyze the situation. In Rin's opinion that was the first thing that Naruto had done that wasn't completely foolish and redundant.

"Shinobi battle techniques, part one: taijutsu, the physical part." Kakashi stated as he continued to pull an object from his pouch. Everyone but Rin was dumbfounded; taijutsu didn't involve weapons so what was he reaching for? Rin knew that Kakashi well enough that she was aware that he was going to pull some stunt to make Naruto seem even more pathetic than he looked now. As Kakashi pulled out a book, everyone was shocked, even Rin. Was he that confident of Naruto's lack of abilities? "What are you waiting for, make your move." Kakashi urged Naruto with a straight face.

"Huh? But… I mean… Why are you reading that book?!" Naruto yelled in disbelief

"Why? I thought it was obvious: to find out what happens in the book. Don't let it bother you, with your weak attacks it doesn't really matter if I'm reading or whatever." Kakashi responded, but at this point, he wasn't even looking at Naruto anymore, he was _actually_ reading his book.

Naruto clenched his fists in frustration and ran with fury straight at Kakashi shouting, "I'm going to punch you!"

The rest of the hidden teammates looked with anticipation as Naruto launched a punch and a kick but, as expected, he missed and by the third punch Kakashi had gotten behind him. "Don't ever let your enemy get behind you." He stated while he made a hand seal.

Sakura, Rin, and Sasuke looked on with shock, that was the Tora and it was known for its power. If Kakashi used it against Naruto, he would demolish the poor fool! Sakura looked on with worry but Sasuke and Rin realized that just as they were going to use deadly force, Kakashi was willing to use it as well. Rin wasn't surprised when she heard Sakura yell with mild concern, "Naruto, get out of there quick! He's going to destroy you!"

He didn't have a chance to react when Kakashi muttered, "Too late." Kakashi moved forward yelled, "Konohagakure Secret Finger Jutsu: A Thousand Years of Death!"

Naruto yelled in pain as he was launched across the clearing and into the small lake from Kakashi focus-poked his behind. Sakura muttered in meek disappointment, "That wasn't a hand seal at all! He just poked him…" Rin was relived that Kakashi wasn't actually going to use deadly force against them, at least not yet. Sasuke lowered his head and closed his head in exasperation, "Those two are true idiots…" How was it possible for a jounin to be so childish?

Kakashi then picked his book back up and murmured, "Okay, now where was I?"Sasuke reached for his weapon pouch but left his hand there, analyzing if Kakashi's guard was lowered. Rin crossed her arms and shook her head, Sasuke would be a fool to attack now, but it was interesting to see Sakura look so down. Perhaps she felt like she wouldn't make it, although that just made it easier on Rin, because those who began to doubt themselves were bound to fail quicker.

Meanwhile, Naruto was thinking over his recent take down and made the decision of attacking Kakashi-sensei from underwater, thinking that he wouldn't see it coming. Once again, he was positive that _this_ plan would work so with newfound determination he threw two shiruken at Kakashi-sensei, but was caught in surprise when he caught them with his middle and index fingers. Seeing how Kakashi caught them with such ease without even looking, Sasuke removed his hand and placed it back on the ground for support. Naruto crawled unto land coughing and spitting out water and Kakashi questioned him, "What are you doing now? You know you won't get lunch unless you take a bell by noon."

Now Naruto looked even more desperate as he said, "I know, I know! You told us that already!"

Kakashi continued his offhanded teasing by saying, "You look pretty wobbly for someone who's going to surpass the Hokage…"

This is the moment when a light went off in Rin's head. _'That's why he made us skip breakfast… smart Kakashi, but not enough to take me down.' _She didn't eat as much as other kids her age because she grew up with scarce amount of food and learned to appreciate the value of it. There were days where all she and Nazoko would eat was an onigiri each and some scraps of pork for the whole day. However, her compatriots did not share her background and they were surely hungry by now, especially Naruto who could eat enough for three. "You told us not to eat breakfast, so how can I fight when I'm starving to death?!" Naruto shouted in hungered grief.

Sasuke didn't complain, but discomfort covered his face thoroughly; however the same could not be said for Sakura who though to herself, _'Breakfast? I didn't even eat dinner last night! It was a really bad idea to go on a diet...' _

"So you caught me off guard, that's all it was!" Naruto quickly came up with a dull excuse to justify why he was taken down so easily, but as an afterthought he added, "I'm so hungry that I don't have any strength… but I can't let that stop me, I've gotta get one of those bells no matter what. I'll find the strength somehow and I'm going to pass this test and I'm not going back to the Academy! I _will_ become a ninja!" As he said this, the water behind him started to ripple and seven figures bolted out of the water and jumped towards Kakashi-sensei. "You're over confident sensei, that's why you weren't ready for a shadow clone attack, my best move!"

Rin wasn't too surprised, as she had seen him make many more but she was disappointed that such power was in such a thoughtless fool, who was dense enough to announce their attack? Rin was pleased to see that the rest of the team wasn't aware of his potential through the shock in their faces, especially once they realized that they weren't mere illusions but actual clones. Of course Kakashi had at least heard about the boy's abilities as he merely looked slightly bit impressed, but not enough to put him book down. "Looks like the stories are true… he _can _make shadow clones… It's a forbidden jutsu and he defeated Mizuki with it." He looked unimpressed again as he said, "It's a great technique but I don't think you can maintain it for very long. You talk like you're the best Naruto, but you're still the worst student. You can't beat me with this jutsu-"

As he was finishing his statement, he was gripped from behind. "What the- How did he get me from behind?" He asked himself out loud. At this point everyone was in shock, even Kakashi himself. "Didn't you say not to let your enemies get behind you? Good advice sensei!" Kakashi was glad the boy was a quick learner, but he was still too overconfident. All the clones tackled and gripped Kakashi while Naruto continued talking, "I had one of my clones come out of the river and sneak up behind you, super quiet. Now this is for nailing me in the butt!" He jumped and aimed a kick to Kakashi-sensei's face.

Sakura was definitely surprised by this sudden show of strength and blushed, thinking, _'When did Naruto, of all people, get cool?'_ Sasuke actually looked a bit impressed, but Rin was definitely unimpressed. She could see that Naruto was, once again, being too overconfident and that he was too busy showing off instead of actually planning this strategy through. "You're mine, and so are those bells!" Naruto yelled as his leg kicked out and made contact.

The surprise came after when he realized he kicked a clone. "Hey… It's you isn't it? You're Kakashi-sensei! You transformed into me using a jutsu!" He yelled in fury and started kicking and punching the clones, creating a mass clamor of Naruto's yelling at each other until Naruto was brilliant enough to undo the jutsu. The rest of the team returned to thinking of Naruto as a complete fool for not seeing the replacement jutsu that had happened. It happened so quickly that none of them saw it, but Naruto should have assumed that instead of quarreling with himself really.

He looked disappointed but when he saw something glimmering in the corner of his eyes he was once again in high spirits. "A bell; I must have gotten to him with my attack and he dropped a bell!" His teammates looked on and they were bewildered at his complete stupidity. As he bent down to pick it up, a rope caught around his ankles and he was pulled away from the bell and suspended from one of the tree's branches.

Kakashi sighed as he picked up the bell and scolded Naruto gently, "Think before you use a jutsu or it might be used against you… oh and if the bait is obvious, don't take it." At this point Naruto was flailing around in anger at himself and Kakashi, "A ninja must see through deception-"

"I get that!" Naruto shot back.

"I'm telling you this because you _don't _get it. You think you get it which is not the same as getting it, get it?" Kakashi continued prattling, but Sasuke saw this as an opportunity to strike so without hesitating much he started.

He flung several kunai and shiruken at Kakashi with deadly force and everyone was surprised when they found their target. Naruto started yelling some stupid things at him, but he wasn't listening, he was paying attention to ensure he hit his mark, but seconds after there was a large cloud where Kakashi stood and it was replaced by a log impaled with the weapons. The moment he saw that, Sasuke sprang from his hiding spot and kept running because he was sure that Kakashi knew of his hiding spot by then. Rin remained in her place to make sure she wouldn't be found, but it looked like Sakura wasn't quite as smart. The moment she saw Sasuke run, she tried to chase after him. Naruto was still struggling and trying to undo the knot around his ankles, but Rin was pretty sure that Kakashi had gone after Sakura and Sasuke by now.

Her thoughts were confirmed when a shrill scream echoed through the forest, but it had gone as quickly as it came. Not long after, she screamed again, "Sasuke? No!" Naruto had managed to recapture her attention when he cut the rope but was pulled back by another one. Taking pity on him, Rin made sure there were no more traps and cut him down while shaking her head. She didn't stick around long enough to hear him say anything because she had to find Kakashi and see what happened.

She reached a tree when she heard voices so she froze and pinpointed Sasuke and Kakashi near each other. "Shinobi battle techniques, part two: genjutsu. Sakura studied it in class, but she _still_ couldn't see it coming…" He was still reading that ridiculous orange-covered book, hardly paying attention to Sasuke. Rin thought to herself bitterly, _'At least that's one thing I don't have to worry about. I'd be able to tell a genjutsu from reality because of Kinshinsen, but I guess Sakura was too preoccupied with Sasuke to worry about herself that fool.'_

"I'm not like Naruto or Sakura. Not even like Rin." Sasuke looked dead serious and completely determined but Kakashi waved him off responding, "Say that _after_ you get one of these bells, right Sasuke?"

Sasuke stared at Kakashi for a while until he flung shiruken in his direction to which Kakashi said, "There's no pint using normal attacks." He was almost caught by a trap set up by so he jumped back but was surprised when his face almost met Sasuke's foot. He caught it and twisted it around, only to find that Sasuke used this to his advantage and swung at Kakashi's face. Sasuke smirked and reached for a bell when Kakashi grabbed his other foot, only to have Kakashi pull back right as Sasuke touched it.

"Well, you are different from the other two I'll grant you that." Kakashi said as he put his book away and quickly glanced towards Rin. She clenched her hands in frustration, but didn't move from her spot, knowing that would alert Kakashi _and_ the Uchiha. Sasuke realized that he didn't mention Rin and grunted and started making hand seals in rapid sequence, trying to get a bell but also prove his superiority over her, "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

Kakashi truly looked surprised, knowing that this was a jutsu that required a lot of chakra, and had little time to think more as an enormous ball of flame made its way towards him. Sasuke was in for a shock, because as the smoke and fire dissipated, Kakashi was nowhere to be found. He looked around frantically but moved too late when he felt his ankle being grabbed from underground.

"I'm where you least expect me," Kakashi stated as he tugged with force at Sasuke's legs and buried him up to his face, "right under your feet; Doton: Headhunter no Jutsu. Can't move huh? Well that was ninjutsu, the third shinobi battle technique. You have talent, and you _are_ right, you're different from your teammates I formerly defeated, but different doesn't always mean better. They say that the nail that sticks up is the one that gets hammered down."

He walked away from Sasuke, picked up his book and walked into a clearing knowing that Rin would follow. She did and didn't bother hiding herself. "I expected you to be the last one to try, but I'm afraid you'll still fail nonetheless."

"That doesn't mean I won't try." She wasn't going to waste her time talking, because noon was almost upon them. She closed her eyes and focused her feelings and mind on one thing: Kakashi had failed to return Nazoko. When she opened them she ran in front of him and started fighting one on one, she knew this was futile, but she need a window of opportunity. He didn't bother putting his book away as she continued to batter him with kicks and punches but he was surprised when she fell onto the ground with a kunai rooted into the earth beneath her. She put all her weight on her hand as she swung around and let go as she was facing upwards. She was in the air and Kakashi was ready to block her incoming kick when he heard the spinning of string against metal. He looked down as the kunai was pulled up and was heading for his face; he managed to move out of the way but realized that's what she wanted when he heard the kunai rip the string the bells were tied to. He quickly dove for them and grabbed her from her scarf and pushed himself away from her, with the bells now in his hand. "That was a good move, but you let your anger blind you for a split second. You might have grabbed them if you hadn't waited to see my reaction. For what it's worth… I really am sorry." He didn't need to say more because she knew that was true and that she couldn't blame him, because it was her fault in the end. She also didn't see him disappear while she thought about this.

She regained her state of mind when she heard Sasuke saying, "Hey, let go, let go!" She walked up to him and found Sakura clinging to him. They composed themselves, while Sasuke shot Sakura daggers for touching him, and he said, "I've got to get one of those bells before lunch. That doesn't leave much time." He looked at Rin in but it looked like Sakura had yet to notice her.

"You're still trying to get one of those bells Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked dumbly.

"A while ago, I touched one, and next time I'll get it."

"That's really great Sasuke… I can't believe you did that, you're amazing!" She replied, but she looked a bit annoyed. "It's almost lunch time and there really isn't much time…. Maybe we should just give up!"

"I'm the only one who can destroy that person…" Sasuke said, mostly to himself, in anger. Rin looked down, instantly knowing to whom he referred to.

"Huh…? You can't mean Kakashi-sensei right?" Sakura looked surprised but she heard Rin when she walked closer to Sasuke, "Rin-chan! You sacred me… hey where have you been all this time? Haven't you even tried?"

Sakura went ignored as Rin approached Sasuke and stood behind him as he said, "That day… I was crying…" He truly wasn't speaking to anyone, Rin knew, but she felt his pain nonetheless, she was the one who found him, after all and they both shared their share of tears. Both she and Sasuke ignored Sakura as she was asking him questions. "I'm an avenger, and that must mean I've got to be stronger than my prey. I need this training, so there's no time for setbacks."

He looked back at Rin and though she didn't look him in the eyes, they both understood why they both needed to go forward and finish training as soon as it was possible. They were about to move when they heard the timer go off. "I've wasted too much time here!" Rin and Sasuke both exclaimed. They made their way back to the origin of the sound ignoring each other completely, except for Sakura who tried to walk closer to Sasuke, of course.

When they returned, Naruto was tied to a post but he was ignored as everyone wanted to know what Kakashi had to say. "I know you're all hungry, but let me just say this: this exercise, well, I've decided not to send any of you sent back to the Academy…"

Sakura and Naruto celebrated and Sasuke merely acknowledged it. Rin was furious; there was no way he could do that! He made them slave all day and after seeing Sakura's and Naruto's pathetic example he was going to let _all_ of them stay in? "Yes all four of you are being dropped from the program…permanently!"

This made everyone stop, but it moved Rin in action. She stared at him for a few seconds before she launched herself at him with her kunai in hand, ready to make him take back what he said. Despite the fact that Kakashi could have handled it, Sakura and Sasuke managed to grab her and she flailed around as she looked at Kakashi in disbelief, _'He's not doing this to me… He can't! He knows why I have to go on! Kakashi why?'_

She calmed down and yanked her arm from their grasp she merely composed herself and returned to her usual place in the tree tops. She could hear and see them just fine, but it kept her from view. Naruto threw a cautious glance at her before starting to ask why and starting to yell at him.

"I'm kicking you out of the program because you don't think like ninja, you think like little kids, like rats." Kakashi said.

This time, Sasuke ran towards Kakashi with a nasty gleam in his eyes. Sakura couldn't react soon enough and Kakashi held him down as he continued without pausing, "You think it's all about _you_." He even waited for Sakura to calm down after yelling about not touching Sasuke like he was a bug, "You don't know what it means to be a ninja, you think it's a game. Why do you think we put you on squads?"

Everything faded away when Kakashi said 'game'. Nazoko's _life _is more than just a game. How dare he? How dare he disrespect him like that? Did he truly think that low of them? She shook in rage but she regained her senses when she heard Kakashi say, "-teamwork!" She looked back in his direction. "If all four of had come at me, you might have gotten the bells. I purposely made it out to be two bells to create team conflict to see if you could overcome that and put the team over yourselves. A genin should have a natural sense of teamwork but it never even crossed your minds. Sakura, you were so obsessed with Sasuke, who was gone, while Naruto was right in front of you and you wouldn't even lift a finger! Naruto, you did everything on your own, everything! You Sasuke thought the others were so far beneath you, you were full of arrogance! And you Rin, I don't know where to start, you saw the rest of your team go down and you only focused on the bells, you did everything by yourself and trust me, Nazoko-"

"Shut up. I can take you bashing me with all your criticism, but don't you _dare_ breathe another thing about him."

He continued and stepped away from Sasuke, Rin sighed and jumped down to help him up, but he just stood back up and ignored her. She wasn't going to be scolded like a child any longer. She turned around and walked towards Kakashi, but didn't pause at all. He started talking about the memorial stone but she continued on. "Alright, I'll give you one more chance."

Rin stopped as he walked over to her and motioned his head towards the team. She took in a deep breath, crossed her arms and trotted back to where the other genin were. "I'm going to make it much harder on you though. You will have three hours to get the bells, but you better eat lunch now to build up strength. The catch is Naruto can't get any. That's his punishment for trying to eat before by himself. Whoever tries to feed him, will automatically fail." With that he left them and they started unpacking their boxes and eating. Naruto groaned. Rin had yet to touch her meal and he was staring at it with hungry eyes. His stomach growled and he made a comment about going days without eating and Rin just narrowed her eyes at the lie. Sasuke sighed and lifted his lunch to Naruto, "Here," everyone was shocked, Rin included, "Kakashi's gone and we need to get the bells as a team. If Naruto's hungry he'll be weak and ineffective, and it affects the team and jeopardizes the mission."

Sakura look down in shame and then offered some of her food to Naruto as well. Before they started feeding him Rin said, "Just eat your own food, I'll give him mine…"

"But Rin-chan, then you'll be hungry!" Sakura protested.

"Don't worry about me. I've gone longer without eating." She didn't give them room to argue and she started feeing Naruto some of her foods, as his hands were tied up. As soon a he swallowed the first bite a dust cloud appeared behind her. "You!" Kakashi yelled and everyone jumped in surprise. _'Damn! I should have made he wasn't watching!'_ Rin thought, _'now I'll never-'_

"You broke the rules, are you ready to face the punishment? Any last words?" The sky grew dark and Rin merely looked down, ready to take responsibility.

"Wait! But there are four of us!" Naruto said timidly.

"Yes?"

"Well…that's why–"

"Listen, we're a team, and we're all in this together!" Sasuke said.

"Yeah, that's right! We gave our lunch to him because the four of us, we're one!" Sakura agreed

"Isn't that what you wanted Kakashi?" Rin stated as she faced Kakashi, encouraged by her teammates.

"You're one? That's your excuse…? You pass." He started out angry but then softened his tone at the end.

"What?!" They all yelled in unison.

"You're the first team to succeed. All the previous ones did exactly as I said and fell in every trap. They followed instructions blindly, a ninja must see through deception. In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum. Everyone passes. Team 7 starts its first mission tomorrow! Let's go home…"

Everyone started filing out and they eventually returned to untie Naruto, but Sasuke stayed back when he saw Rin looking up at the skies. "Hn, are you coming?"

"Uchiha, I have a question for you…"

"What's that?"

"Were you remembering…_that_ night earlier?" She turned to look at him, and for the first time ever, she purposefully looked him in the eyes.

* * *

***A/N***

**Sorry I took so long to update but doctors and I have a very different definition of what healthy means. I want to thank all my reviewers but I want to give a shout-out to one in particular:**

**AnonymousReview, this person has written a review for every chapter and has even declared him/herself my fan. For those of you who don't know a group of ravens is called an Unkindness and he/she says that my 'fans' should be called that and has declared him/herself the first Loyal Unkindness so thank you very much, it means a lot to me! As always, please review and tell me what you think!**

******UPDATE******

**So I just started school so unfortunately, I won't be able to write as much, but that doesn't mean you won't get your story! My free time is dedicated to finishing this for you guys. If you have any stories you think I'd like, then just let me know, I rarely turn one down and I will always leave an honest review.**

**Your Raven,**

**E. I. Lorelai**


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